I swear, Ron…
by Juliette
Summary: METMA challenge # 17 (2nd place winner)... Hermione leaves Ron & Harry in the library for a few minutes and strange things happen, like Snape proposing to McGonagall and the house elves going on strike... but is it just a dream?


OK, NEW CHALLENGE TIME! Challenge 17: Started 10.08.01   
*Someone must say "Tienes constipado?" which means "Do you have a   
cold?" in Spanish.   
*Snape must propose to someone   
*There must be a bird   
*All the house elves must go on strike   
*It must be in txt format and funny   
*I have to have a cameo! Hehe! :) 

I hope you guys will try it out! The winner gets a cookie! :) 

~Mandy 

"I SWEAR, RON…" 

_By Juliette_

"You've got to be kidding me!" Harry exclaimed. 

"Nope," Hermione said, "in all seriousness!" 

_"Really_?" Ron asked, slapping his forehead. 

"Honestly, Ron, I saw him propose to McGonagall. What do you think, am I _crazy_?" 

"Are you sure, Hermione?" Harry said with skepticism in his voice. 

"No!" Ron said. "She's totally kidding, Harry, she wants to make **BLOODY** fools of us." 

"I swear, Ron…" started Hermione. 

"Snape proposing to McGonagall will happen the same day that all the house elves go on strike for pay!" exclaimed Ron, completely dismissing Hermione's claim. 

"Ok Hermione, if you really saw Snape propose to McGonagall, what did she say?" asked Harry. 

"I told you, I was so shocked that I ran all the way back here to the library before I heard any more." 

"Whatever," said Ron, rolling his eyes. "Come on, dinner's in fifteen minutes and I haven't eaten since…" 

"Lunch," suggested Harry. 

"Really, was it _that_ long ago?" groaned Ron, gathering his books. 

They walked back to Gryffindor tower to quickly unload their books and head back down to the Great Hall for dinner. 

"Are you coming, Neville?" Hermione called across the common room, one leg already outside the entrance. 

"No," he called back, between bad coughs. 

"Oy! What's the hold up?" complained Lee Jordan. "_Weasley, Potter, Granger…_ move! Hey what's up with Longbottom? ¿Tienes constipado?" 

"What?" Neville asked, a confused look coming over his face. "No, I'm not _constipated_!" Alicia and Katie burst into giggling fits. 

"Poor Neville," Hermione said, shaking her head. 

"Aw… why don't you marry him!" bellowed George. 

Hermione's cheeks grew a little hot, "what's with all you Weasley boys!" she shouted back. 

"Hey, what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Ron asked defensively. 

"Just go," Harry said, pushing them both out of the portrait hole, once again becoming a Ron/Hermione mediator. 

"Thanks Potter," Fred said, giving his brother and Hermione a rude glare for blocking the exit. He was holding a small canary in his hands. 

"No problem," Harry muttered back, not really wondering where Fred's girlfriend Angelina was. 

* * *   
Just as they were entering the hall, a girl came running up to them. "Have you heard?" she asked excitedly. 

"Heard what?" asked Ron. 

"You haven't heard!" she exclaimed excitedly. 

"Are those _antlers…"_ started Hermione. 

"No time… listen," she said in a hushed voice, "the house elves just went on strike an hour ago, and they left a petition on Dumbledore's desk for pay and holidays, not to mention a little recognition. Now I'm not one to go against Elf liberation, but I'm really here to save the poor magical items that are abused here at Hogwarts on a daily basis." 

"What!?" asked Harry and Ron simultaneously, identical puzzled looks plastered over their faces. 

"Who are you?" Hermione asked, leaning in to take a closer look at the girl. 

"Mandy," the girl said extending her hand, _"METMA _Mandy_."_ Bewilderedly, Hermione took the girl's hand and shook it. 

"Do you go here?" Harry asked, thinking about the ridiculousness of his question. 

After a moment Mandy said, "Well I'm here, am I not? That's really the important thing, no?" 

"Urm…" started Ron. 

"HEY WEASEL, SCAR-FACE, MUDBLOOD!" they turned around to face Draco Malfoy. "Who are you talking to, _the wall?_" he asked rudely. 

_"Mandy…"_ Harry turned and she was gone. Without even thinking, he grabbed the back of Ron's robes to pull him away from breaking Malfoy's nose. 

_"Freaks_," laughed Malfoy as he walked away. 

"Oh I wish you'd let me have him just once," fumed Ron. 

"Wait, where'd that girl go?" asked Harry, completely ignoring Ron. 

"She must have backed away, maybe she's scared of Malfoy," suggested Hermione. 

"Have either of you ever seen her around?" asked Ron. 

_"No_," they both answered. 

"Weird, right," said Harry. 

They entered the Great Hall, finally determining that they were either crazies, or a girl who called herself (METMA?) Mandy had slipped away from them into the grand dining room. 

Harry, Ron and Hermione dropped their jaws. The house elves really were on strike! They held large signs declaring_ 'Elf Rights'_, and _'SPEW TODAY!'_ tacked to the back of old and worn school broomsticks. The elves had formed a picket line around the high table, where a single elf stood. It was Dobby. 

"Stop it! Stop it! Don't you see those poor broomsticks! They need our help, _VIVA LA METMA!"_ It was Mandy, pushing her way through the students who had crowded around the protesting elves. 

Harry, Ron and Hermione followed quickly behind her before the gaps filled in again. "Harry Potter, sir!" called Dobby. 

"What's going on, Dobby?" asked Ron. 

"Don't you see Ron, it's wonderful!" declared Hermione, grabbing one of the house elves and hugging it. 

"Is that Winky? Ahh, Ahh! Her poor apron, her poor blouse… come back here you stupid elf!" 

* * * 

"OW, OW! Stop it!" Ron bolted up in his chair. "Hermione?" he said, looking at her funny. "Were you just pinching me?" He looked around and saw Harry stirring, batting Hermione's hand off his shoulder. 

"I can't believe you two!" barked Hermione. "I leave you for five minutes to get a text book from Professor McGonagall's room and you two fall asleep in your books." 

"Who the heck is METMA Mandy?" Harry said, dazed, blinking furiously. 

"Who?" Hermione said. She paused to look at her watch, and then said, "come on, dinner's in fifteen minutes and we should go drop off these books in the common room." Ron groaned. 

"I had the weirdest dream," Harry said, stuffing his unfinished essay into his school bag. 

"Yeah something about the house elves going on strike," Ron said, stopping to scratch his head for a second. "And some girl?" he said as an afterthought. "Really hyper…" 

"If you two weren't off in _la-la land_, those essays would have been done," said Hermione sharply, pointing at Ron's blank parchment. 

"Yeah, ok…" started Ron, rolling his eyes. His stare fixed on the door where two people were walking into the library. 

They all gasped. Professors McGonagall and Snape walked through… _holding hands_! "Hermione pinch me!" Ron whispered, not blinking. 

"I swear, Ron…"   
  
  



End file.
